BOSTON, Dec. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- John
Hancock today announced its strongest U.S. Elite Team since its
principal sponsorship began in 1986. The team, recruited to compete
against an accomplished international field, will challenge for the
coveted olive wreath on Patriots' Day, April
16, 2018.
Four-time Olympian and 2017 TCS New York City Marathon
champion Shalane Flanagan
headlines the field along with two-time Olympic medalist and 2017
Bank of America Chicago Marathon champion Galen Rupp. Joining them are Olympians
Desiree Linden,
Dathan Ritzenhein, Abdi Abdirahman, Deena Kastor, and Molly Huddle, the latter of whom is the
North American 10,000m record
holder.
Also returning to Boston are
Jordan Hasay and
Shadrack Biwott. Hasay placed
third at the 2017 Chicago Marathon, and set the American marathon
debut record at Boston this year
when she ran 2:23:00. Biwott finished as the second American and
fourth overall in Boston this
year. Serena Burla,
Ryan Vail, Sara Hall, Scott
Smith, Kellyn Taylor, and
Andrew Bumbalough will also
compete on the John Hancock U.S. Elite Team at the 122nd
running of the Boston Marathon.
"The 2018 John Hancock U.S. Elite Team represents a dedicated
group of athletes who have consistently challenged themselves to
compete with great success on the world stage," said John Hancock Chief Marketing Officer
Barbara Goose. "We are honored to
invite this team to the Boston Marathon to lead 30,000 runners
along the world's most historic marathon route."
"In the Boston Marathon's 122-year history, one will be hard
pressed to find a more accomplished American field than the one
John Hancock has established for
2018," said Tom Grilk, CEO of the
B.A.A. "With Olympic medalists, Abbott World Marathon Majors
winners, American record holders and more, this will be the most
decorated U.S. fields in Boston Marathon history. Many familiar
faces return to the roads leading to Boston, while others will be making their
long-awaited debuts. And of course, it will be especially engaging
for local fans to welcome Marblehead's own Shalane Flanagan back to follow up her
magnificent triumph in New
York."
John Hancock U.S. Elite Team Highlights:
Shalane Flanagan is the
newly crowned New York City Marathon champion, racing to the first
U.S. women's title since 1977. A four-time Olympian, Flanagan holds
American records in the indoor 3,000m
and 5,000m and in the 10K, 15K and
25K. She won the silver medal in the
10,000m at the 2008 Olympics and won
the bronze medal at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country
Championships. Flanagan was the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials
champion and then finished ninth in the 2012 Olympic Marathon. Last
year she was third at the 2016 Trials and sixth at the 2016 Olympic
Marathon in Rio de Janeiro.
Galen Rupp returns to
Boston after finishing runner-up
this year. He secured a commanding win at the 2017 Chicago Marathon
in October. Last year, Rupp won the bronze medal at the 2016
Olympic Marathon; at the 2012 Olympic Games, Rupp won the silver
medal in the 10,000m. He holds four
American records: indoor 3,000m,
5,000m, and two-mile, and the outdoor
10,000m. Rupp ran and won his first
marathon at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Accomplished in
the 10,000m, Rupp won the national
championship in that event from 2009 until 2016.
Desiree Linden, a two-time
Olympian, returns to Boston after
finishing fourth this year. At the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials she
finished second and then was seventh at the Olympics. A top-five
finisher in seven Abbott World Marathon Majors, Linden narrowly
missed winning Boston in 2011 by
two seconds. Additional accomplishments include placing second at
the 2010 Chicago Marathon, tenth at the 2009 IAAF World Marathon
Championships, second at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and
second in the 10,000m at the 2015 Pan
American Games.
Dathan Ritzenhein is the
third fastest U.S. marathoner of all time with a 2:07:47 personal
best. Career highlights for the three-time Olympian include
finishing ninth at the 2008 Olympic Marathon, winning the bronze
medal at the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and
finishing 13th at the 2012 Olympic Games 10,000m. This year he won the U.S. 25K National Championships.
Abdi Abdirahman placed
sixth at the 2017 Boston Marathon, and earned the Masters Division
title. He also finished seventh in New
York City this year. In 2016, he finished as the top
American and third overall at the New York City Marathon.
Abdirahman is a multiple national champion in the 10,000m, 10K,
10-mile and Half Marathon. He placed third in the 2012 U.S. Olympic
Marathon Trials, but did not finish the Olympic Marathon due to
injury.
Deena Kastor is a
three-time Olympian and the U.S. record holder in the marathon and
the half marathon. Kastor won the 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze
medalist, the 2005 Chicago Marathon, the 2006 London Marathon, and
the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. She has earned 18 national
titles across various distances and won two silver medals at the
IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
Molly Huddle is a has
earned more than 20 national championship titles on the track and
roads. She set the American 10,000m
record of 30:13.17 with her sixth-place finish at the 2016
Olympics. Huddle is a three-time winner of the B.A.A. 5K, and set an American record of 14:50 at the
event in 2015. She has also won the New York City Half Marathon the
past three years. In her marathon debut, she ran to a third place
at the 2016 New York City Marathon.
Jordan Hasay set an
American debut record of 2:23:00 with her third-place finish in
Boston this year. She improved her
time by two minutes at the Chicago Marathon, finishing third in
2:20:57. An 18-time All-American at the University of Oregon, Hasay won the 2007 IAAF World
Youth Championships 1500m silver
medal. She also won USA National
Championship titles at 15K and
20K on the roads in 2017.
Shadrack Biwott finished
as the second American and fourth overall at this year's Boston
Marathon. Only his University of Oregon
teammate Galen Rupp finished higher
with a second-place finish. Biwott finished seventh at the U.S.
Olympic Trials Marathon and fifth at the 2016 New York City
Marathon with a personal best time of 2:12:01.
Serena Burla finished
10th and 11th at the 2015 and 2017 IAAF World
Championships Marathon, respectively. Burla set her personal best
marathon this year in Osaka,
running 2:26:53. In 2013, she finished runner-up at the Amsterdam
Marathon. A cancer survivor, Burla was diagnosed with synovial
sarcoma in her right hamstring. She had part of her right hamstring
removed in 2010, and had another malignant tumor removed this year
after the World Championships.
Sara Hall ran three
marathons in 2017: She won the U.S. National Marathon
Championships, set a personal best time at the Frankfurt Marathon
(finishing fifth in 2:27:21), and placed sixth at the Tokyo
Marathon. She is married to Ryan Hall, who holds the American
course record of 2:04:58 at the Boston Marathon.
Ryan Vail ran to an
eighth-place finish at the BMW Berlin Marathon this year
against a highly competitive field. A four time U.S. World Cross
Country team member, Vail's highest finish was 17th in
2013. He earned his best marathon time of 2:10:57 with a tenth
place at the 2014 London Marathon.
Scott Smith ran the fourth
fastest U.S. marathon time this year (2:12:21) with his
eighth-place finish in Frankfurt.
He represented the U.S. at the 2012 IAAF Half Marathon
Championships and the 2015 IAAF World Marathon Championships.
Kellyn Taylor, the 2015
Pan American bronze medalist in the 5,000m, has run four marathons with impressive
results. At the 2015 Houston Marathon she finished sixth, and
followed that performance up with a sixth place at the 2016 U.S.
Olympic Marathon Trials. This year she placed 13th at
the Virgin Money London Marathon and eighth at the New York
City Marathon.
Andrew Bumbalough has
represented the United States
twice in cross country and twice on the track in international
championships. He won the USA
5K National Championship in 2013, and
placed fifth at the New York City Half Marathon in 2015. He made
his marathon debut in Tokyo this
year, finishing as the top American, and followed that up with a
13th place finish at the Chicago Marathon.
The 2018 Boston Marathon marks the 33rd year of John Hancock's landmark sponsorship of the
legendary race. The complete elite international field will be
announced in a few weeks. For additional information about the
elite athlete program and sponsorship, please visit
www.johnhancock.com/bostonmarathon/sportspartnerships.html or
follow us @jhboston26 and @johnhancockUSA on Twitter.
2018 Boston
Marathon John Hancock Elite USA Team
|
Deena
Kastor
|
2:19:36 (London,
2006)
|
@DeenaKastor
|
|
Jordan
Hasay
|
2:20:57 (Chicago,
2017)
|
@JordanHasay
|
|
Shalane
Flanagan
|
2:21:14 (Berlin,
2014)
|
@ShalaneFlanagan
|
|
Desiree
Linden
|
2:22:38 (Boston,
2011)
|
@des_linden
|
|
Serena
Burla
|
2:26:53 (Osaka,
2017)
|
@serena_burla
|
|
Sara Hall
|
2:27:21 (Frankfurt,
2017)
|
@SaraHall3
|
|
Molly
Huddle
|
2:28:13 (New York
City, 2016)
|
@MollyHuddle
|
|
Kellyn
Taylor
|
2:28:40 (Houston,
2015)
|
@kellyn_taylor
|
|
|
Dathan
Ritzenhein
|
2:07:47 (Chicago,
2012)
|
@djritzenhein
|
|
Abdi
Abdirahman
|
2:08:56 (Chicago,
2006)
|
@Abdi_runs
|
|
Galen Rupp
|
2:09:20 (Chicago,
2017)
|
@G_Rupp
|
|
Ryan Vail
|
2:10:57 (London,
2014)
|
@ryanvail
|
|
Shadrack
Biwott
|
2:12:01 (New York,
2016)
|
@skiptoob
|
|
Scott
Smith
|
2:12:21 (Frankfurt,
2017)
|
@scott_n_ready
|
|
Andrew Bumbalough
|
2:13:58 (Tokyo,
2017)
|
@abumbalough
|
|
About John Hancock and
Manulife
John Hancock is a
division of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international
financial services group that helps people achieve their dreams and
aspirations by putting customers' needs first and providing the
right advice and solutions. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the
United States, and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial
advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for
individuals, groups and institutions. Assets under management and
administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were over
$1 trillion (US$806 billion) as of September 30, 2017. Manulife Financial
Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945
on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com.
One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports approximately 10 million
Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life
insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and college
savings plans. We also offer advice through Signator, a network of
independent financial advisors. Additional information about
John Hancock may be found at
johnhancock.com.
PR 2017-90
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/john-hancock-announces-2018-boston-marathon-us-elite-field-300569328.html
SOURCE John Hancock